His Christmas Miracle
by beachmomma77
Summary: Draco's life after the battle has been a series of disappointments. Just as he was about to throw in the towel, an old witch and a feline remind him to always believe that something wonderful is about to happen. Written for the Quills and Parchment Holiday fest.


DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Harry Potter.

The day before Christmas found Draco Malfoy up and about at six in the morning. Today marked the last working day at the Ministry before the long holiday break, and this meant he only had a few hours to accomplish his mission, or risk adding that to his never-ending list of 'what-ifs' he'd accumulated over the years. He shivered the moment he left the comfort of his bed, the weather in London has been colder lately, and the thin fabric of the terry cloth robe he purchased from the thrift shop down the street did very little to help keep him warm. He thought the heater must've switched off in the middle of the night, so he made his way to the small living room of the modest little cottage he rented to make a nice, warm fire.

As he stacked the logs in the old brick fireplace, he felt something hovering by his leg, demanding attention. He rolled his eyes when it kept walking around, curling its tail around his leg. "Morning, Dorian," he greeted the patched tabby cat, who was busy trying to make his presence felt. "I know, I know. You're gonna have to wait until I'm done here." The old feline gave Draco one last nudge before it sprinted off to the kitchen, leaving Draco to his task. As soon as he was able to start the fire, the dashing blond sat in front of the hearth for another minute, savoring the warmth as it slowly chased the chill away. Dorian's incessant purring reminded him that he had a cat to feed and meals to prepare. Frowning, the dashing blond stood and walked to the kitchen to make breakfast for himself and the old feline, as well as to marinate the chicken he was going to roast for Christmas Eve dinner. He heaved a heavy sigh as he recalled how he used to spend the holidays growing up at the Manor with his parents doting on him. If his family had only made the right choices - if he had just been brave enough to join the Order when Professor Dumbledore offered to protect him, he probably wouldn't be spending the holidays with a cat in an almost run-down little cottage in the outskirts of London.

Dorian's purrs distracted him just before he sank deeper into the rabbit's hole. The feline entered his room and leapt to his side table. "What is it now," he asked. The cat nudged the small gift box that sat on top of his small stack of books as if reminding him that he needed to give it to his intended today. It would've been an easy task, except he was having second thoughts about it because she might be wary of receiving gifts from a former convict, especially if the said gift was something he purchased from a quirky old witch with a penchant for Charms.

 _"It's a Kisnoglobe."_

 _Draco was immediately drawn to the small snow globe that the old witch named Catherine, took out of the box. He saw the old witch sitting by the roadside on his way home and asked what she was doing out in the cold at six in the evening. She told him she needed to sell an item so she could go home, so he offered to look at it himself._

 _"It's not just an ordinary snow globe," the old witch said, as he continued to be entranced by the bauble. Draco knew that she must've said a lot more, but he was too busy looking into the snow globe, which contained the figure of a girl walking along a street lined with cherry blossoms. Draco didn't realize he was smiling until Catherine peeked inside the snow globe curiously._

 _"I'm sure your girlfriend will be delighted to receive this," the old witch said cheerfully, distracting him from his thoughts._

 _"Sorry?"_

 _"Oh, I just assumed…" Catherine started, taking her gaze off the snow globe and clearing her throat. "I assumed you were going to give this to a nice young lady."_

 _"She's remotely interested in me," he muttered under his breath as he shook the snow globe once again._

 _"You know you should always believe that something wonderful is about to happen," the old witch told him._ _He looked at her appraisingly. While it was true that he'd thought of giving it to someone, he was surprised at the old witch's earlier assumption. Draco mentally listed the pros and cons of purchasing the charming snow globe, he heard Christine clear her throat._ _"Would you like to buy it?"_

 _"I don't think I can afford it," he muttered, shuffling his feet. If this had happened when he was still in Hogwarts, money wouldn't have been an issue, but that's changed with the fall of Lord Voldemort. Just like the other Death Eaters, the Malfoy properties and vaults had been confiscated and used to recompense war victims and rebuild Wizarding Britain. After he was pardoned, his meagre salary at the Ministry helped keep him afloat, but he lived from paycheck to paycheck sometimes barely making it through. At the moment, he had a couple of sickles and a few knuts to his name until his next paycheck. If he made an offer, he'd either be laughed at or frowned upon, but he knew, either way, it'd be worth risking if it made her smile. Sighing, he looked at the old witch, made an offer, and hoped for the best._

 _He walked home with a huge smile on his face, and a pretty little present for the most insufferable witch he's ever met, who also happens to be his boss and the savior of the wizarding world's best friend._

If only he had the confidence as three days ago, he sighed. Draco wanted to give her the gift the next day so he walked over to her desk, but he retreated to his seat immediately after seeing all the neatly wrapped presents stacked on her table. Embarrassed, he left the gift at home the next day and came home to an angry feline. It wasn't until Draco had promised to bring the gift with him the following day did the old cat finally stop hissing.

And today was that day. Draco made his way to his small desk at the Division Heads office at the Department of Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures bright and early. His plan was pretty simple - walk up to her desk, leave the present, and walk away. It would've been easy to execute, except that she decided to work at her desk all morning. He watched patiently as the brilliant brunette met with one Division chief after another, while he sorted and filed the department's reports as orderly as he could.

Noon came along with two gingers and a side of blonde. Draco tried his very best to conceal his disappointment upon seeing the Weaslette and her mother stride inside the Division Chiefs' section with Looney Lovegood in tow and a nice little picnic basket on hand. 'Surprise, Hermione! Since you can't have lunch out, we're bringing lunch to you,' he heard them squeal in unison. He rolled his eyes wondering why women must always sound like happy chipmunks when they're excited. He opened the drawer where he kept his present and sighed. Judging from the happy voices coming from his boss's workstation, it seems like the women will be staying for quite a while.

The entire afternoon went by so quickly, yet he still had the box in his drawer. One by one, the Division Chiefs and their staff had started to leave, and he secretly hoped he'd have time to sneak up to her desk to leave his trinket. Draco scanned the room for any onlookers before he took out the box from the drawer and looked at the snow globe once again, still entranced by the snow falling on the cherry blossom trees and the lovely brunette walking along the tree-lined street. Lost in thought, he failed to notice someone coming his way.

"Uh, Malfoy…"

Draco gasped, jumping at his seat. He looked up and saw the svelte brunette who ran the entire department, looking at him curiously. He assumed that she had just approached him to give some last minute instructions before she left for the holidays. "Yes, Ms. Granger?"

"I didn't get a chance to talk to you all day, but I wanted to give you your present before I leave. Happy Christmas, she said cheerfully, holding up a neatly wrapped present. She watched him blink at her dumbly, holding a small crystal that sparkled and revealed an image of what looked like a happy couple walking in the snow. There was something about the pair that caught her fancy, so she leaned closer to get a better look.

Startled by her proximity, he cleared his throat and placed the snow globe back in the box. Hermione straightened up, blushing furiously. She had never been caught peering over someone else's things red-handed. She needed a diversion, and fast."Well," she said, in an attempt to change the topic. "Snow globes seem to be the in-thing! It seems everyone's giving out snow globes this year, do you know that -"

"I was going to give this to you," he told her, as he slowly raised his gaze to meet hers. "Seeing as you have a lot of snow globes already, I don't think you'd appreciate one more."

"No, Malfoy, I want that!" She walked around his desk to retrieve the item from him, while he gathered his things so he could leave the Ministry as well. "Malfoy!"

"Don't you have a lot of presents?"

"I do, but that's not the point -"

"What is it then? You want to place this with all the other fancy snow globes on your shelf so that when people visit and ask, you'll say the smallest one came from your childhood bully?"

"What?"

Realizing what he'd just done, the lanky blond hurriedly took his coat and stormed out, not caring to look back to see the crestfallen look on her face, as she watched him leave.

oOoOoOoOo

"I know, Dorian. You can stop hissing at me now!"

It was eleven-thirty in the evening, and Draco opened his third bottle of the golden brown alcohol muggles call beer before he took the roast chicken out of the oven. The patched tabby shot another murderous look as it lay on the counter, its tail gently caressing the pretty little snow globe that the blond had been staring at since he got home a few hours ago. He rolled his eyes when the old cat hissed at him one more time.

"Look, I know you're upset I didn't give the present like I promised, but she wouldn't have liked it if I had left it there anyway," Draco said. That was a lie, of course, he never gave her the gift. As he poured the beer into a cold mug, he heard a faint sound from outside. He paused and strained to listen while Dorian jumped off the counter and ran to the front door. The blond set the beer bottle aside and walked to where his cat had run off to, surprised to see it pawing at the door. "What is it, someone outside?"

And there he heard it, a knock. Eyebrows furrowed, he wondered who would be on his doorstep at this time. This was one of the times he wished he still had his wand. Picking up the worn-out fire iron, he slowly approached the door and gently pushed his cat away. His heart started to race as he unlocked the door, twisted the knob, and pulled the door open.

"About time you opened the door!"

"Granger?"

"I thought I was gonna freeze to death, Malfoy," the feisty brunette said, pushing her way inside the cozy little cottage. She headed over to the fireplace with the old tabby chasing after her.

"Sure, come on in," he muttered, shutting the door. The dashing blond walked into the living room, still bewildered at her arrival. She shivered while she sat by the fire, Dorian sat beside the brilliant war hero, lending her what little warmth he provided. Sighing, he walked to his room and came out with a fleece blanket. The old cat looked at him, wagging its tail as if urging him to wrap it around her shoulders. He rolled his eyes, he must've been so pathetic if even the cat was giving him pointers. He cleared his throat and handed her the blanket.

"Thanks," she said, smiling faintly as she wrapped it around her body.

"So…" he started, as he made his way to the pass-through and leaned against the divider. "Not to be rude or anything, but what exactly are you doing here?"

"You left without your present."

He smirked. "You didn't have to come all the way here for that. You could've just left it on my desk. Shouldn't you be at the Weasleys?"

"How do you even know I spend Christmas eve with them?"

He shrugged. "That doesn't answer my question. Why are you here?"

"I wanted to get my snow globe."

He rolled his eyes at her. "I told you to just forget about it."

"Well, I don't want to," she said curtly, as she rose to her feet and stalked towards him. "You said that was for me and I want to have it."

"That's crazy, Granger. It's just a stupid little snow globe -"

"No, it's not," she refuted, standing toe to toe with the infuriating blond.

"Why?"

"Because it's from you, you git," Hermione finally said, taking his face in both her hands and pulling him in for a kiss.

To say he was surprised was an understatement. Draco felt her soft lips on his before everything registered. She kissed him timidly, gently caressing his lips with hers, coaxing him to kiss her back. When he felt that she was about to pull away, he immediately took over the kiss and moved his mouth hungrily over hers while his fingers were tangled in her curly brown hair. She sighed into his lips and started kissing him back just as hungrily, wrapping her arms around his neck. When they finally pulled away, he felt her rest her head on his chest, her arms now wrapped around his waist. Smiling smugly, he held her close and planted a kiss on her forehead.

She looked up at him, smiling back. "Do I get my present now?"

He laughed, still holding her against him. "I don't know why you want it so bad. Is it because of the Cherry blossoms?"

"Cherry blossoms?"

"Yeah, there's a whole line of cherry blossoms and a girl walking," he said, releasing her in order to fetch the snow globe from the kitchen. "See, you looked at it earlier too, right?"

"I don't see the Cherry blossoms, Malfoy," she replied, taking the snowglobe and gazing inside. "I see you and me."

He raised his eyebrow quizzically at her. "Really?"

She nodded before shaking the snow globe several times. Finally, he noticed her eyes light up and she snickered at her discovery. "Malfoy, this is a _Kisnoglobe_ , it's quite a rare treasure. It shows you what your heart desires most," she said matter-of-factly. "So, I guess I should be asking you if cherry blossoms make you happy."

"I don't really care for those, but you see, there's a really annoying woman I work with at the Ministry -"

"Annoying?"

"She's annoyingly smart, annoyingly righteous, annoyingly kind, annoyingly sassy when she wants to be, and oh, she's annoyingly beautiful too," he smirked, winking at her. "Now, this annoying little witch forces a conversation with me every single day of the week. At first it was alright because all I had to do was listen, but soon she started asking my opinion about things." He sniggered when she rolled her eyes. "Do you want to hear more?"

"Do continue," she replied.

"She talks about her dreams of traveling to Japan in the spring because she wants to see the cherry blossoms," he told her. "And I just want her to be happy because she's come to mean so much to me, annoying as she is."

Draco held her face in his hands and wiped her tears with his thumb. He saw her chuckle through her tears, and he smiled back at her apologetically. He didn't have a lot of experience in romance, but he had a feeling that it was about to change. And as his lips met hers, he knew for certain he shouldn't have doubted what the old witch had told him when she sold him the _Kisnoglobe_ a few days back. Christmas miracles still happen, and if you believe hard enough, something wonderful will come your way too.

The End.

 _A/N: A Kisnoglobe is a combination of the words Kismet and Snowglobe, for lack of a better term._

 _Thanks for reading!_


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